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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28282395">The Keymaster</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ILoveDin/pseuds/ILoveDin'>ILoveDin</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Edna &amp; Harvey (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Dark fic, Darkfic, F/M, Kinda, Romance, Slow Burn, rating might go up to explicit, unhealthy relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 22:55:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,875</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28282395</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ILoveDin/pseuds/ILoveDin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After fleeing the mental hospital and Dr. Marcel, Edna ends up reuniting with the Keymaster. Despite everything that happened, she follows him to his new home. But what is he up to?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Edna Konrad/Schlüsselmeister | Key Master</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was cold. Edna shivered as she walked through the forest. It was only fall, but winter was approaching. She wouldn’t be able to sleep under the open sky much longer, but she didn’t know where to go.<br/>
She didn’t know how much time had went by after she shoved Dr. Marcel down the stairs of her house. She didn’t know whether he was dead or not. She dearly hoped that he wasn’t. Alfred, the Keymaster, Dr. Marcel… Was she a serial killer already? <br/>
She had stared at his body for just a few seconds, until Harvey snapped her out of her trance by shouting at her to run away, to get somewhere safe, far away from Dr. Marcel, dead or not. She couldn’t risk getting caught and put back into a small cell again, possibly getting her memory erased by some other therapist.<br/>
So she ran, and cried, and ran. After twisting her ankle, she fell into a river. She managed to pull herself out of the water, but only to notice she lost Harvey. Her best friend. The <em>only</em> friend she had left.<br/>
Now she was all alone, in a cold, dark forest, hiding. She walked around aimlessly, only moving to warm up a little bit. Her hospital gown, despite being long, didn’t do much in keeping her warm, since it was completely open on the back.<br/>
After a while, she heard voices. There were lights too, probably car lights. Slowly, she sneaked closer, and noticed a street behind the trees. She should probably sneak back into the safety of the forest, but she felt so cold and hungry… Quietly, she walked closer towards them. Maybe she could just check those people out? Maybe they would give her a warm hoodie and some food? Maybe-<br/>
A big hand pressed hard on her mouth, muffling any sound of surprise she produced. A second hand hugged her waist to pull her away. Her eyes widened and she tensed up in fear. Was it one of Dr. Marcel’s henchmen? Or a lunatic who would kill her? She wasn’t sure which option of those she preferred. The warm breath of her captor brushed her neck. Should she fight? Just as she was about to ram her elbow behind herself in hope of hurting him, she stopped dead in her tracks, when he whispered two words into her ear.<br/>
“Hello Princess.”<br/>
She gasped inaudibly, still muffled by his hand on her mouth. A rollercoaster of emotions rolled over her. It wasn’t one of Dr. Marcel’s staff! But it <em>was</em> a psycho who might be about to kill her. But he, the Keymaster was alive! She didn’t kill him back then! But, again,... he was a killer.<br/>
“I’m pretty sure you don’t want to go any closer towards Dr. Marcel and his staff,” he continued to whisper into her ear. She shuddered – because of his words, but mainly because of his voice. She had almost forgot what his voice did to her, shaking her to the core. For a second, he let go of her, grabbing her arm tightly instead, to pull her further away. She let him for the moment, unsure what else to do. Were those people on the street really Dr. Marcel and his henchmen? Did she almost run into them? She felt the blood drain from her face.<br/>
While they walked, she examined the Keymaster from behind. As opposed to her, he wasn’t wearing his hospital gown anymore, instead wearing plain black pants and a black jacket. She shivered again. His clothes looked so warm…<br/>
Quite a while later they left the forest and stepped onto a small street. They seemed to be quite a while away from the town. The few houses here were far away from each other. Edna still tensed up. She didn’t feel comfortable leaving the forest. Then again, she <em>did </em><span>plan to do exactly that when the Keymaster found her. So she let him pull her through the streets, until they stopped in front of a </span><span>very small </span><span>house. The Keymaster fumbled a key out of his pants’ pockets, and unlocked the door. He grabbed her arm again to pull her inside, but she froze and tried to free her arm of his strong grip, to no avail. He turned around and she gulped when his eyes met hers.</span><br/>
“Where are you taking me? And why?” she asked.<br/>
“I’m taking you inside, obviously. You look cold.”<br/>
“Whose house is this?”<br/>
“The house is abandoned, so it’s mine now. You’re my guest, so follow me, Princess.”<br/>
<span>With that, he let go of her arm and disappeared inside, leaving her standing at the open door. Edna was a little overwhelmed. A second ago, she had the urge to flee, but now that he left her the choice, she wanted nothing else than to go inside this warm house, </span>
  <span>maybe sit on a soft couch with a blanket, maybe even drink a hot cocoa…</span>
  <span> Carefully, she stepped inside. What was she scared of, anyway? It’s not like he couldn’t have easily killed her in the forest. Probably easier than in a house even.</span><br/>
<span>T</span>
  <span>he Keymaster ignored her, fumbling through a dresser when she stepped inside, so she used the time to look around. The house really was small – just a single room, with integrated kitchen and bedroom. </span>
  <span>Though the “bedroom”</span>
  <span> section was just a small bed with the dresser the Keymaster was currently fumbling through, and the kitchen looked like what you would call a student kitchen with a table and two chairs.</span><br/>
<span>T</span>
  <span>he Keymaster suddenly turned around and threw some cloth</span>
  <span>es</span>
  <span> at her, which she caught. </span>
  <span>He pointed at the only other door.</span><br/>
“You can go change there.”<br/>
She went inside that room, a little relieved that she can be alone to think clear for a while. The room was a bathroom, it actually looked bigger and nice than she had expected. It wasn’t too big, but it had a bathtub as well as a shower.<br/>
<span>She examined the cloth</span><span>es</span><span> in her hands.  It was a big shirt, probably a men’s. </span><span>She wondered whether it was the Keymaster’s shirt. Besides that, there was only a pair of boxer shorts. In this case, she tried not to think about whether it was the Keymaster’s or not. </span><span>After a quick shower, s</span><span>he put both clothes </span><span>on</span><span>. </span><span>W</span><span>hile she didn’t </span><span>really mind</span> <span>being sparsely </span><span></span><span> clothed, she felt a little angry at him for not giving her </span><span>warmer and more appropriate clothes. It felt different to wear a gown in a mental hospital </span><span>without a care</span><span>, </span><span>than to have an older man give </span><span>these</span><span> clothes to you. But she had admit – it was still better than just the gown. She threw the gown and her pink panties </span><span>in a corner and left the room.</span><br/>
<span>W</span>
  <span>hen she came back, the Keymaster was sitting on the bed. His Jacket was thrown on one of the chairs, so he was just wearing a dark gray shirt. Edna noticed that one of his now revealed arms was lightly, the other badly bruised. She </span>
  <span>suddenly felt a rush of sympathy for him. Those wounds were surely because of the fall from the churches railing. </span>
  <span>Because of her…</span><br/>
“<span>Why were Dr. Marcel </span><span>and the others there?” she asked. She sat down on one of the chairs, feeling weird standing around.</span><br/>
“Well. Do you realize you walked pretty close to the mental hospital?”<br/>
“What! Damnit, I was wandering around with no orientation, but I didn’t expect that!” she grumbled. “I need to make sure that doesn’t happen again…”<br/>
“You can just stay here,” the Keymaster simply stated. Edna’s eyes widened.<br/>
“You’re a murderer!”<br/>
“You almost murdered me.”<br/>
“Which is why you probably shouldn’t want to be near me!”<br/>
“<span>Touché.” He smiled for a moment, </span><span>which made Edna shiver</span><span>. “I’m </span><span>a very forgiving guy though. I committed a murder, you almost did too – I’d say we’re even on that. You </span><em><span>do</span></em><span><span>owe me something for saving you from running into Dr. Marcel though…”</span></span><br/>
<span>
    <span>That triggered Edna’s urge to flee again. She definitely didn’t want to owe this man. She looked out the window. It was pitch dark out by now, and probably colder than yesterday, and the next night would be even colder than this night. Maybe she could just </span>
  </span>
  <span>
    <span>stay here for a while, find out what he’s up to, and leave as soon as possible.</span>
  </span><br/>
“Where would I sleep though?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. He gestured towards the bed he was sitting on. There was no couch, just this small bed and the two chairs.<br/>
“<span><span>If you want more luxury, you’d need to find yourself a different house. It’s much better than the ground outside or even in a cell though. I won’t take too much room.” He lay down on the bed, leaving enough room for her. </span></span><span><span>She stood up from the chair, but instead of walking to the bed, she let herself plop on the floor.<br/>
“I’m good, it’s much more comfortable here than outside.” She lay down too, feeling very uncomfortable knowing that </span></span><span><span>s</span></span><span><span>he couldn’t really see him that way. She felt exposed.</span></span><br/>
The sound of something soft hitting hitting the floor startled her. She looked up and found a pillow near her.<br/>
“Thanks,” she mumbled, laying back down more comfortably with the pillow.<br/>
<br/>
This night, she only got into a very light and often interrupted sleep, despite being very tired. She felt so warm and comfortable, compared to sleeping in the woods, but whenever she heard a sound, she half-expected the Keymaster to do something to her.<br/>
<span>
    <span>She stopped trying to fall asleep when she woke up early in the morning. The sun would probably rise in a few hours. After looking out the window for a few seconds, she shifted her focus on the Keymaster. Slowly, she tiptoed close to the bed to examine his sleeping face. While he was still looking somewhat worn out and sick, he now also looked almost… gentle, and so peaceful. It was weird how intimate it felt to watch someone sleep, Edna thought. She just hoped he’d never watch </span>
  </span>
  <em>
    <span>her</span>
  </em>
  <span>
    <span> sleep too…</span>
  </span><br/>
<span>
    <span>Suddenly, he opened his eyes, </span>
  </span>
  <span>
    <span>making Edna jump. Quickly, she retreated and </span>
  </span>
  <span>
    <span>fled </span>
  </span>
  <span>
    <span>without a word</span>
  </span>
  <span>
    <span> into the bathroom to wash up.</span>
  </span><br/>
“<span><span>I’m scared of him,” she said to herself, for a second expecting Harvey to answer her. Right. He wasn’t here. She sighed.</span></span><br/>
When she left the bathroom, she found the Keymaster standing beside the table, filling steaming water into plastic cups. After putting the water kettle back on the kitchen counter and getting two forks, he sat on one of the chairs and shoved one of the instant noodle cups towards the other chair, without looking at Edna.<br/>
She followed the quiet invitation and sat down. For just a second she wondered whether she trusted him enough or not; but she hadn’t eaten since their breakout, which was probably the reason why the cheap noodles smelled absolutely delicious to her. So she ate, quietly. The Keymaster finished before her. He stood up and put on his jacket.<br/>
“I’ll be away for a while. Don’t do anything you might regret,” he simply stated as he went outside, leaving her alone in the small house. Edna stared at the door, feeling creeped out and somewhat angry. What a nice choice of words for their first and, for now, only words spoken to each other today. She wondered where he was going, but shoved the thought away for now. After finishing her meal, she got up and looked through the kitchen cupboards, finding some water and even two bottles of orange juice, as well as glasses, so she took one and sat back down, helping herself to some orange juice. For a while she sat there, staring at the door, sipping on her glass. Her eyes kept flickering towards the dresser beside the bed. Surely he wouldn’t mind her getting some orange juice, but digging through his dresser?<br/>
She only managed to endure five more minutes of boring sitting and staring, until she jumped up and walked over to the dresser. The first two drawers were boring, filled to the brim with clothes. The third one contained clothes, too, but after lifting a sweat pants on top, she found framed photographs, carelessly shoved inside the drawer. She sat on the floor and examined the photos. It was an unknown man, probably enjoying his vacation on some of the pictures, on a few others she could recognize the house she was in, sitting on the chair she just got up from, with another guy on the other. So he was the one who lived here before. Did he forget the photos when he left to abandon the house? Edna knew that was far less likely than another thought that gnawed at her in the back of her head. She had seen what the Keymaster was capable of, back in the church.<br/>
She put the photos back inside the drawer and closed it. She decided against opening the fourth drawer – for now. Instead, she sat on his bed. Her mood heightened immediately. The bed was so soft! Still sitting, she made slight jumping movements and giggled. Then she lay down completely, relaxing for a moment. She just had to make sure she didn’t fall asleep. Or so she thought, as her eyes slowly closed…<br/>
Cursing inwardly, she woke up. She didn’t want to fall asleep on his bed. Was he back already? She looked towards the door, straining her eyes. It was dark already. Then she turned to look to the other side of the bed and almost screamed when she saw movement close behind her. She focused her eyes on the Keymaster, who apparently had lain down beside her while she was asleep, and watched him breathe slowly for a while, before slowly getting up. A hand shot up and grabbed her arm.<br/>
“Why don’t you stay, princess?”<br/>
Hearing his crystal clear voice – did he even sleep or just pretented to? – made her get goosebumps. She tried to rip her arm away, and he let her.<br/>
“No, thanks,” she simply answered and got up. Instead of continuing to sleep, he sat up on the bed too.<br/>
“There’s some food on the table,” he stated. Beaming, she made a beeline to the table. She was still hungry from what was probably days of not eating. She sat on her chair and opened a bag of toast. There were packages of cheese, salami and more on the table, as well as some fruits and vegetables.<br/>
“How did you get all that?”<br/>
“I bought it.”<br/>
Edna threw him a look of skepticism, but started to eat anyway. She felt his eyes lingering on her.<br/>
“What?” She threw him an annoyed look, trying to hide how uncomfortable she felt.<br/>
He stood up and walked over, sitting on the empty chair.<br/>
“What did you do the last few days?”<br/>
“I found out about my past,” she explained, leaving out the fact that she shoved Dr. Marcel down the stairs. “Got found so I fled again. I almost drowned, and ended up in the forest. I was too scared to leave, until I got too cold and hungry, and you know what happened then. What about you?” Her eyes flickered to his arms, noticing that he had taken his jacket off again. Now she felt guilty again, noticing all those dark bruises.<br/>
“I was lucky enough to not be found until I gained back my consciousness. Then I looked for a place to stay at.” He gestured around them.<br/>
She stared at him in anticipation, but he didn’t continue.<br/>
“How did you find this house?”<br/>
“I got lucky. Like you, I wandered around for a while, until I found this house.”<br/>
She raised an eyebrow. Seems like he didn’t want to fill her in on the details. Then again, she had left out a few details too.<br/>
With a small voice, she almost whispered, “Are you… angry at me for causing you to fall down the railing?”<br/>
For what felt like an eternity to her, he just looked at her with his emotionless eyes.<br/>
“I had just murdered a man five minutes before, and you think I’m angry for getting a few bruises? It’s okay, Edna.”<br/>
She shuddered when she heard her name out of his mouth. But she actually felt a little bit better now that she got the chance of at least getting some of her questions answered, especially knowing now that he wasn’t angry at her.<br/>
So she continued, “How did you find me? Were those people really Dr. Marcel and his henchmen?”<br/>
“I think so, yes, as you were almost in front of the hospital’s driveway. I checked the area. Originally, I didn’t even plan on getting that close to the mental hospital, but I thought I saw a certain purple haired person headed into that direction, so I had to check.”<br/>
Edna nodded. She still wondered whether it was Dr. Marcel or just the hospital’s staff. “Thanks for stopping me by the way.”<br/>
“I really did you a favor there, didn’t I?”<br/>
This made her feel uncomfortable again. She sighed quietly and looked back down on her food, continuing to eat.<br/>
With a serious voice, he slowly continued, “And here you’re still not taking my warning on not doing anything you might regret seriously.” Her head shot up, looking at him guiltily, giving away that she, indeed, did something she felt she shouldn’t have done. Did he know she looked through the dresser? He wouldn’t kill her over such a thing… would he?<br/>
“I guess you owe me two favors now.” He noticed the worried look on her face. “It’s okay, princess, you’re lucky I’m a very forgiving guy.”<br/>
She didn’t like this.<br/>
<br/>
Two weeks later, they had developed some kind of routine. She’d barely be able to sleep at night – though it got a lot better as time went by, and she got used to his presence. It wasn’t only his fault she had trouble sleeping, but also the hard floor she was still sleeping on. So she’d wait until he’d leave for a few hours, and lay on his bed, enjoying the comfy warmth and softness, especially when his body warmth was still lingering in the sheets.<br/>
He’d come back after a few hours with food, toiletries, or whatever they needed. On some days, he wouldn’t go out, and she dreaded those days, missing out on comfy hours of sleep. But she was also glad then, as there was still the fear of not knowing what he did in the back of her head. Did he murder people every time he went out? She tried not to think too much about it, for now.<br/>
Thankfully, he didn’t seem to mind finding her on his bed, even reminding her that she could share the bed with him at night. She preferred to get up before he was back though, especially since he once mentioned her owing him another favor.<br/><br/>

Right now, Edna woke up by the mattress bouncing, finding the Keymaster had flopped beside her on the bed after arriving back home. Sleepily, she sat up to greet him, but didn’t bother to get up to gain more distance between them. She was still scared of him, especially when he talked to her in a certain way – like she was a dumb child, owing him her life – but she had gotten used to being around him.<br/>
She noticed he didn’t bring anything with him, but he definitely had been outside for quite a while.<br/>
“What did you do outside?” she asked, genuinely curious. He let out a quiet groan and rubbed his eyes.<br/>
“Would you mind letting me sleep for a while, Princess? I’ll tell you afterwards if you do.”<br/>
Nodding, she got up and walked over to the table, where she lit a small light to do what she mostly did when she was alone and not asleep; drawing. Sometimes she had a lot of fun drawing cool stuff, but sometimes it just felt like occupational therapy. She hated that feeling, so she convinced herself it wasn’t like that. She chose to do that, she <em>could</em> go out instead. Sometimes she thought about just going outside, but what would she do there? Visit the forest she lived in for days, which she hated by now, just to risk getting lost? Her whole goal had been to find out what had happened in her past. Now that she knew about her past she felt lost. She couldn’t go back home and live with her father like she had dreamed of. She still wanted to enjoy her freedom though. While finishing her drawing of Harvey, she made a mental note to ask the Keymaster to come with him sometime.<br/>
Speaking of him, she heard the soft sound of the blanket being pushed away. She looked at him as he got up and walked over, sitting on the other chair. She looked at him in anticipation.<br/>
“Can I come with you next time you go outside?”<br/>
He raised an eyebrow. “Getting bored in here, princess? You can, but only if you’re a good girl.”<br/>
Despite not liking his phrasing, she nodded. She got excited now, as she’d finally find out what he was doing everyday.<br/>
“I wish we could go out right now. Can’t wait!” she grinned and he let out a small chuckle. Then he got up and walked around the table, stopping right behind her chair. He leaned over her, painfully close, and she gulped. It reminded her of the day he found her in the forest, thought at least her body wasn’t pressed against his.<br/>
“That’s your stuffed toy? Where is it, by the way?” he asked, and she noticed he was looking at her drawing.<br/>
“It’s Harvey. I lost him while I was fleeing,” admitted Edna in a sad tone.<br/>
“I see, I see.” With that he stepped away and went into the bathroom.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Whoops, I've finished writing this right after posting the first chapter on Christmas, but never posted it. So here it is!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next morning, the Keymaster got woken up by Edna hopping on his bed. Eagerly, she stared at his sleepy face, as he blinked up at her.</p><p>“Good morning! Shall we leave?”</p><p>“Edna, it’s early.” He sighed, but still got up and left into the bathroom. Her eyes followed his movement at first, but she averted her eyes when she got reminded he wasn’t wearing any pants. It wasn’t like he was naked, but seeing a grown man in his underwear just felt… wrong. Too intimate. She wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to that.</p><p>Thinking of what was awaiting her, she jumped around on the bed. She was in a great mood! Today was the day she’d finally experience a new adventure!</p><p>The Keymaster came back after a short while, looking less sleepy, and put on his jacket. He stepped towards the door, but stopped while looking Edna up and down. Then he turned to walk to the dresser instead, and got out another plain black jacket he threw at Edna.</p><p>“Here. It’s cold,” he explained, now walking through the door.</p><p>Edna quickly put the jacket on and followed him, noticing that it really was much colder than the last time she was outside. She really was lucky she had a roof over her head now. Sleeping outside in this temperature couldn’t be healthy. She was still only wearing boxer shorts as pants, but even though they didn’t keep her legs warm, they were at least big enough to almost look like normal hot pants on her petite body. Not that she worried much about what people thought about her. She breathed in the fresh air and smiled. On the horizon, she could see the sun rising. It seemed to become a great day and she was happy to be out to enjoy it.</p><p>Her mood dropped a bit when they entered the very forest she came from. But it was alright, wasn’t it? Enjoying nature instead of staying inside the whole day. Plus, they didn’t need to be around people who might recognize them as fugitives there. And he surely had no reason to leave her in the forest, since he picked her up from there in the first place.</p><p>“Where are we going?” she asked, happily, but also a little warily. He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, without turning his head.</p><p>“You’ll see,” he simply stated.</p><p> </p><p>After walking for a few hours, they arrived at a too familiar looking brick wall, in front of an unfamiliar looking door.</p><p>“Is this…?” Edna held her breath and looked up, spotting the mental hospital’s building somewhere behind the wall. The Keymaster took a key out of his pocket, opened the door, and slid through, into the hospital’s garden, without batting an eye. Edna stared at the door in shock. She had to decide quickly. Did she want to follow him and risk getting caught? Or go back into the woods, try to find their house, and go back to staying home all day?</p><p>Despite her common sense screaming at her to run away, she quickly followed, closing the door behind her. She just hoped he knew what he was doing.</p><p>Seeing the garden, the bird bath, the small zen garden,… it all triggered so many emotions in her. She followed the Keymaster closely, making sure not to leave his side.</p><p>“What are we doing here?” she asked quietly, looking up at him. He gave her an undefinable look. Instead of answering, he used the key in his hand to unlock the same backdoor they had used to flee in the past. They both stepped inside and she followed him to the stairs.</p><p>“<span><span>We’ll </span></span><span><span>kidnap Dr. Marcel,” he finally answered, almost casually. Edna stopped in the middle of the hallway, staring at him in disbelief. Yes, she loved to wreak havoc, leaving chaos where she was going, but kidnap Dr. Marcel? She needed time to get over the fact that he was alive even </span></span>–<span><span> though she was definitely glad she didn’t kill him, just as she was glad she didn’t kill the Keymaster. But she still wanted to stay the heck away from the crazy doctor.</span></span></p><p>The Keymaster didn’t care that she stood there dumbfounded instead of following, and kept going up the stairs. Edna snapped out of it and quickly caught up to him.</p><p>“We can’t do that!” she half-shouted.</p><p>“What’s stopping us?” The Keymaster gave her another undefinable look before continuing to walk. “He’s physically disabled. That man can’t even walk.” He pointed at something besides the stairs, and suddenly it clicked in Edna’s head. Wheelchair ramps. This was her work. Still better than dying though, Edna tried to soothe herself.</p><p>“What’s with Babbit and Hulgor?”</p><p>He sighed. “Princess, I’m not an amateur. I’ve observed the hospital for weeks. I know their routines.”</p><p>Edna couldn’t help but feel a little impressed. She knew he was a psycho and all, but she had only observed him kill a random stranger, not go on and actually plan a criminal act. Then again, he had been the one planning their whole escape, even though he hadn’t helped much to put it into action. She probably shouldn’t be surprised.</p><p>“But…,” she quietly mumbled, not sure what to say. While they had talked, they had already arrived on the top floor and she looked at the door leading to her former cell in terror. Thankfully, the chair beside it was, indeed, empty. She wondered if a new inmate was put into her cell, or if it was still empty, waiting for her to be put back in. She shivered and turned to the Keymaster, who kept walking over to the doctor’s office.</p><p>They went inside, and Edna relaxed a little bit when she realized it was empty. It looked almost the same as the last time she was here, only that his big chair was missing. So he really was sitting in a wheelchair, Edna combined.</p><p>“What if they catch us?” She observed the Keymaster opening the desk’s drawers, looking through the items idly.</p><p>“They won’t.”</p><p>“What if they do? How do you plan on getting him out, in a wheelchair even, without anyone noticing?” She was getting crazy! He wasn’t even looking at her! She stepped forward, grabbing his shirt with both hands to get his attention. “Why would you even want to-”</p><p>She was interrupted by a voice getting louder in front of the door. She froze in shock. They hadn’t heard it because of her speaking. The Keymaster acted quickly, opening the wardrobe, then grabbing her arm to forcefully push her inside, and entering himself before quickly closing the door. Edna gasped, resulting in the Keymaster pressing his hand on her mouth firmly, just like he had done in the forest. Edna’s eyes were wide in shock, frantically looking around in the dark. His body pressing closely against hers didn’t help her claustrophobia, and she felt herself starting to hyperventilate into his hand, her whole body trembling. This was hell. Pure hell. Not only was she back in the mental hospital she was trapped in for a whole decade of her life, she was also now trapped in a small wardrobe, just like back when she was a child, with the very man that probably wanted to see her dead, or at the very least lock her up and torture her, on the other side of those frail wooden doors. Despite the Keymaster being physically closer to her than ever, she suddenly felt all alone in the world, like everyone was against her. She’d probably die in this wardrobe. Yeah, she would die in here right now, unless Dr. Marcel would find her quick enough to torture her before killing her in the worst way that would come to his mind… She started hyperventilating against his hand.</p><p>She felt dark eyes on her, and barely noticed the Keymaster’s face getting closer to hers in the haze of her anxiety attack. She did notice the sudden soft breath on her ears.</p><p>“Everything is alright. He won’t find us.” he whispered quietly, with a confidence that was out of this world. “He won’t find us. It’s all good. I’m here, I will take care of everything.”</p><p>A part of Edna wanted to punch him for being that relaxed in such a situation, but it worked. She was still very much panicking, but her breathing slowed down a bit and he could remove his hand from her mouth, instead putting it around her waist in a half-hug.</p><p>“I will protect you. I won’t let anything bad happen to you. Everything will be alright.” he continued his mantra. Edna shivered against his body. No one had ever said similar things to her. Even with her father, she had always felt like he wasn’t on her side. Her arms slowly raised to twine around his upper body. His free arm now wrapped around her too, resulting in them closely hugging each other.</p><p>Her heart was still beating fast, hammering against her chest like it was trying to free itself from her body. She leaned her face against his shoulder and concentrated on the Keymaster’s heartbeat. She could feel it against her own chest, pressing firmly on his, beating in a slow, steady rhythm. How was it possible he wasn’t affected by this situation at all?</p><p>Finally calming down enough, she started concentrating on the sounds she could hear from outside the wardrobe. Dr. Marcel – if it was really him, but she assumed it was, since the Keymaster seemed to know what he was talking about – seemed to be alone, or at least he didn’t talk to anyone. She heard someone rustle through papers though. She relaxed a little more, still not detaching from the hug though. It seems like they really weren’t found out. It felt like an eternity until someone knocked on the door – the office’s door, not the wardrobe’s door – informing the doctor that there was a tumult in the patient’s main room. Dr. Marcel sighed loudly. “Can’t you do anything alone? Go, I will be there shortly.”</p><p>Edna shuddered and tightened the hug when she heard his voice. But when they heard the person apologizing to the doctor and the door close right after, the Keymaster shifted to stand upright, looking at the door. Edna looked up, noting a glimpse in his eyes. Oh no. She could imagine what he was thinking right now. ‘This is my chance to attack’. She tightened the hug even more, preventing him from leaving the wardrobe. Her head was tilted back a bit, to meet his eyes when he turned to look at her. With a look of determination, she shook her head. She wouldn’t let him do this, not like this, not right now. The glimpse in his eyes changed, darkening, and she felt fear wash over her body as his dark eyes bore through her. Relieved, she noticed he kept still though, not leaving the hug.</p><p>They heard Dr. Marcel leave the room, but waited another minute to be sure he was gone. As she was calming down, she suddenly felt very aware of how close she was entwined with the older man, way too intimate now that she wasn’t feeling like she was dying anymore. She slipped out of the hug and opened the wardrobe’s door, stumbling out hastily, almost falling at the process, only to be caught by the Keymaster’s hands.</p><p>“Thanks,” she mumbled, quickly making sure to get some space between them. The man didn’t answer, instead just walked over to the door and left. Edna followed him, feeling a little confused. Was she just imagining it or was he ignoring her?</p><p>They left the building without any complications, thankfully. The Keymaster walked quickly, making Edna struggle to keep up with him. She also found it scary how he didn’t say a word. She would’ve preferred if he would scold her for stopping him from acting out his plan. She didn’t know how to handle his silence.</p><p>“Why did you just leave?” she asked.</p><p>“This was our best chance to get him. Why stay?” He didn’t even sound angry, he spoke in the same slow, calm way he always did, but she was still sure he was. But how to handle an argument that was never vocalized?</p><p>“I’m sorry,” she apologized quietly.</p><p> </p><p>When they arrived at their home, she felt depressed. She wondered whether or not it had been a good idea to go outside with the Keymaster. Part of her felt like, at least she had experienced an adventure again – but it wasn’t a fun one. She was still trembling a bit from her anxiety attack. It was already dark out, only the small lamp on the table illuminating the room right now, and she decided to lay down and maybe try to get some sleep. They both took off their jackets and threw them on the chairs, and she sat down in her “corner”.</p><p>“You can use the bed,” the Keymaster stated without looking at her, while walking to a small bookshelf close to the bed. She looked at him in surprise – she knew he was okay with her using his bed, but she didn’t expect him to offer it again right now. Maybe he wasn’t angry after all? She decided it was the best to accept his offer, especially since he probably wouldn’t sleep yet. Maybe she could switch to her corner later when he was going to sleep too.</p><p>“Thanks,” she said, slumping down on the soft bed with her pillow. Yep, definitely the right decision. She pulled the blanket over her and sighed, contented. She wasn’t sure what she had expected the Keymaster to do while she was enjoying his bed, but she stiffened a bit when the man sat closely beside her with a book. She had hoped to have the bed to herself. But she still decided against getting up. She had hugged him close only a few hours ago, and right now he was just quietly reading a book beside her. She closed her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>But she couldn’t sleep. She kept thinking back of the events of today. She needed to find out what was going on in the Keymaster’s head. Why did he want to kidnap Dr. Marcel? What good would it bring? Did he want to murder him?</p><p>Aside from those thoughts, she also kept thinking about the way the Keymaster’s body had pressed against hers. The way they hugged each other. Those sweet, sweet words he had whispered softly in her ear.<span> ‘He </span><span>wasn’t</span><span> honest,’ she tried to remind herself. ‘He </span><span>was</span><span> just trying to console me so I </span><span>wouldn’t</span><span> give our hiding spot away.’ </span><span>Her face burned thinking about it and her head was spinning.</span></p><p>She opened her eyes to find the Keymaster looking at her instead of his book. Again, she couldn’t read his expression.</p><p>“Can’t sleep? It’s still early.”</p><p>
  <span>He was probably right. She didn’t know the time, but it was probably around 17:00. It was </span>
  <span>just</span>
  <span> dark </span>
  <span>because</span>
  <span> it was winter. Still, she thought she should be able to sleep because of her exhaustion. Maybe she could talk some things out with him instead? She sat up.</span>
</p><p>“<span>Yeah. </span><span>Uhm… </span><span>Can I ask you a few questions?”</span></p><p>“You can certainly try.”</p><p>She paused for a moment. “What are you planning to do with Dr. Marcel?”</p><p>“He imprisoned me, us, for over a decade. Why shouldn’t we lock him up too?”</p><p>She wasn’t convinced he was only planning to lock him up for the sake of it, but she left it at that for now, to concentrate on other questions.</p><p>“Where do you want to lock him up? There are only two rooms here, and I think we need that bathroom.” She smiled a little, imagining the doctor to be trapped in the bathroom, sleeping in the bathtub.</p><p>“There’s a small garden shed outside.”</p><p>
  <span>She nodded, signaling that she understood. She wondered if he had kept </span>
  <span>the shed</span>
  <span> a secret on purpose; she would’ve definitely insisted on living there if he had told her about it in the beginning. Now that she had already gotten used to sharing the room with him, she didn’t want to downgrade to a potentially dirty, cramped garden shed with no bathroom </span>
  <span>and probably no heating either</span>
  <span>. </span>
  <span>Not in hell, she thought as she snuggled the soft blanket.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>T</span>
  <span>he Keymaster had shifted his attention back on his book, signaling that her time frame to ask questions was over. So Edna </span>
  <span>lay back down,</span>
  <span> closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When nighttime came, she didn’t leave the bed like she had planned </span>
  <span>to</span>
  <span>. Of course she didn’t. The bed was so soft and she had drifted into a deep sleep, so when she half awoke in the middle of the night, she couldn’t bring herself to leave the warm bed for a cold floor without a blanket. Not even when she spotted the Keymaster’s face close to her. Not even when she noticed they shared the same blanket. Not even – thought that was a </span>
  <span>
    <em>very </em>
  </span>
  <span>close call – when she noticed she had twined one of her arms around his upper body. ‘That’s my fault,’ she thought to herself. She was used to hugging Harvey close to her chest in her sleep, and she had really missed that the last few weeks, since she had lost him. Slowly, she carefully removed her arm from him, trying not to wake him up. His eyes still opened, looking right at her. </span>
  <span>Somehow, his gaze gave her goosebumps all over her body.</span>
</p><p>“<span>I didn’t mind,” he stated quietly </span><span>with a deep, sleepy voice</span><span>.</span><span> Not knowing what to say, Edna just looked at him perplexed and turned around, feeling even more uncomfortable now that she couldn’t see him anymore. </span><span>She could almost feel his gaze bore into the back of her head. </span><span>A few seconds later</span><span>, she heard him shift on the bed, drawing closer to her, and suddenly she was hugged from behind. She froze, holding her breath. Only her fast heartbeat and his steady breathing could be heard in the quiet room.</span></p><p>Way too many thoughts clogged her mind. Was it okay for him to do that? She had done the same, just a minute ago, for who knows how long. But then again, she had done it in her sleep. She hadn’t planned to. On the plus side, he didn’t touch her indecently. Could she even still react, now that she had accepted his touch for quite a while? She decided to bear with it. Maybe it wasn’t even that bad. His body warmth against her back did a great job on warming her up, while his soft breath against her neck did an equally great job on making her face heat up.</p><p>She didn’t dare to move an inch, but couldn’t fall asleep either like this. She listened to his breathing, and just a while later she noticed he had fallen back asleep. Finally she relaxed a little more. It still took her some time to drift back into sleep too.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Obligatory "English isn't my first language". I'd appreciate if you point out mistakes, so I can remove them from this story! I'd also love a beta reader, if anyone's up for that.<br/>Any comment is appreciated though, even it's just a simple "nice" :)<br/>Thanks for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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